Formation of Seonbi Family and Status of Wonju in Early Joseon Dynasty : Focusing on the Wonju Won clan and the Wonju Lee clan

This article examines the process of reorganization of the Wonju Won and Wonju Lee clans, the indigenous surnames of Wonju in the early Joseon Dynasty, into a noble family. This course helps to reaffirm Wonju's long history and traditions. In Wonju, there were families that participated in the founding of the Goryeo Kingdom since its founding. This family was serving as the ruling class of Wonju until the end of Goryeo. Moreover, these families stayed in the capital to perform official duties, which contributed to raising the status of Wonju. One of them may be that during the Yuan Dynasty intervention, the Wonbu family from Wonju maintained close ties with the royal family and gained fame. These families formed blood ties with the dominant families of the time. This relationship extended to the royal families of Goryeo and Joseon.As a result of this, it is remembered as a distant ancestor of the famous Seonggwan (姓貫), who still left his name today. Even while working as civil servants in the capital, they did not lose interest in their hometown. As natives of Wonju, they were able to serve as local government officials for a long time, and this sense of solidarity stems from that. In this environment, Wonju was able to create conditions for local officials to transform into a bureaucratic family centered on literati even before the founding of the Joseon Dynasty. Most of them are descendants of the Won Chung-gap, Lee Song-gyeon, Won Gwang-myeong, Won Gwang-deok, and Won Yun-jeok families. They have maintained blood ties for generations. This family rose to become an influential family in the central government, having risen to high positions through past examinations. At the same time, he would have returned to his hometown and developed Wonju's academic culture and regional identity.